A father faces felony charges for bring home an injured eight-inch alligator for his son to nurse back to health.

After finding the alligator being attacked by a bird, Kevin Gill, from Naples, Florida, told WBBH that he thought his 13-year-old son could care for the reptile while learning about gators.

But when Collier County deputies were serving a search warrant on the family's home for an unrelated issue, they came across the baby gator - and told Gill it was illegal.

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Arrest: Kevin Gill, pictured in a mug shot, left, was arrested after deputies found he had a small alligator inside his Florida home. He had found the injured gator and given it to his son, right, to nurse back to health

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'I had no clue,' Gill, 45, told WBBH. 'It wasn't like I was out collecting alligators. I was trying to save an alligator and nurse it back to health and we were going to take it over to the conservancy...

'I didn't think it was a big deal since there's millions of them and they took them off the endangered species list.'

But after the deputies found the gator, which the family kept in a tank, they took Gill to jail.

The case is being handled by Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission.

It is a felony in Florida to keep an alligator without a license, regardless of its size.

Illegal: To keep an alligator of any size in Florida, you need to apply for a license (stock picture)

Home: The alligator was kept in this tank in the family's Naples home after they found it outside

Stunned: Gill said he never knew keeping an alligator - especially such a small one - was illegal

Anyone who wants to own an alligator must 'demonstrate 1 year and 1,000 hours of substantial practical experience in the handling, husbandry and care of alligators or other crocodilian species' before applying for a license, according to the Wildlife Commission.

Gill said he was shocked to discover the laws.

'Everybody that I've talked to was amazed I was arrested for something like that,' he said.